Pope Francis expressed his solidarity to Greece for its people’s trying experience of the ravaging wildfires, in a papal telegram released by the Vatican on Friday.
The telegram was relayed by the Holy See’s secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, to Bishop Petros Stefanou of the Episcopal Conference of Greece.
“His Holiness Pope Francis is deeply concerned by the threat to life and damage caused by the widespread wildfires in various parts of Greece, and beyond, as a result of the current heatwave affecting a number of European countries,” reads the message.
Pope Francis stands by those afflicted by the fires, it was noted in the message, while emphasizing his hope that “the risks to our common home, exacerbated by the present climate crisis, will spur all people to renew their efforts to care for the gift of creation, for the sake of future generations.”